Different Steps
by Adicic Kitten
Summary: This Fan-Fic is PG-13 or possibly R. This is what happens after Sara is sent off to Julliard. She and Derek want to continue their relationship, but a new friend gets in the way and discoveries are made.
1. The Letter

~~*Title*~~ : "Different Steps"  
  
~~*Author*~~ : Atomic Kitten  
  
~~*Email*~~ : ClosetMonster690@aol.com  
  
~~*Website*~~ : http:// www . acidiclipgloss . strawberryshake . net [remove spaces]  
  
~~*Summary*~~ : This Fan-Fic is PG-13/possibly R. This is what happens after Sara is sent off to Julliard. She and Derek want to continue their relationship, but a new friend gets in the way and discoveries are made.  
  
~~*Disclaimer*~~ : This fan fiction was written solely by myself, Atomic Kitten. However I did not create the original characters from the motion picture //Save the Last Dance//. I do not own the trademarks or copyrights to sed characters, plots, merchandise, etc... Only the written words of this fan-fic are my property.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*Chapter One : "The Letter"*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
-------  
  
Derek  
  
-------  
  
Dearest Derek,  
  
Days grow longer and longer here without you. Ballet has taken over much of my life and yet, a void that can never be filled is left in your place. I'm sure you'll think I'm being sentimental, but it happens when one has been away for so long.  
  
Some days I almost regret leaving you. My only consolation is your visit in the spring. I thank God each day that it is only twenty days away. As the day we will be together again draws near, I can't help but miss you even more.  
  
Love,  
  
Sara  
  
Derek sighed. To be perfectly honest, he missed Sara too. Though her message had seemed a little sappy, it was definitely Sara and that's what he loved about her. At the mention of his visit, a smile played across his lips. Derek had long awaited seeing Sara. It had been, what, four months since she started Julliard? His excuse to her was that he was waiting for her to get settled in. In reality, he was just trying to scrape up enough money. He was doing okay in his med school, the scholarship paid for 100% of his tuition and books, but he still had to work for his leisure money.  
  
That was why he had taken a part-time job as an apprentice to the local mechanic. It was manual labor, but it paid $20 an hour. So after these long months away at his school while Sara danced her heart out, he had managed to scrimp and save just enough for a round-trip ticket. He would, of course, stay in Sara's dorm with her. She had arranged it all with the dean, being organized as she was. Though his trip was less than three weeks away, he felt as though it would be an eternity before he would meet her again.  
  
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Sara  
  
-------  
  
Back at Julliard, Sara was lounging in her dorm while her Spanish roommate Taeya is getting ready to go to a dance club. [S = Sara][T = Taeya]  
  
T: "Ay! Chica, you shouldn't sit alone on a friday night. Come with me to ~~*Intersection*~~." She sat expectantly on the edge of Sara's bed.  
  
S: Sara sighed. "I'm busy with... something."  
  
T: "Oh really?" She began doubtfully, "Like what? Counting the threads in your sweater from the Gap? Puh-lease niña, come ON!"  
  
S: With Taeya's urging starting to get to her, Sara's protest weakened. "Well... I... I can't."  
  
T: "Why not? Girl you know I know you ain't worried about your moves on the floor. I'm here for singing and I can still dance at ~~*Intersection*~~, so I know you got some ballet shit to show off."  
  
Sara bit her lip, she had purposely not attended any clubs or social gatherings since she arrived at Julliard. Temptation wasn't something she wanted to face. Not with Derek so far away.  
  
S: "If I go with you tonight, will you leave me alone for a while?"  
  
T: With her face lighting up brighter than the lightbulb above their heads, Taeya enthusiastically quipped "Cross my heart!"  
  
After some intense wardrobe adviseries, courtesy of Taeya, the girls were on their way to the club.  
  
----------------  
  
[@ Intersection]  
  
----------------  
  
Walking in the door, Taeya laughed and pointed to a hottie nearby. His bleach blonde spiked hair and icy blue eyes made him stand out against the crowd.  
  
T: "He's the whole reason I come here."  
  
S: She shrugged "Not bad."  
  
T: With a look of disbelief Taeya turned to Sara. "Not bad? NOT BAD? The guy's a god!"  
  
A short spunky girl with cropped hair dyed bright pink bounced up beside the two. Bangles jangled at her wrists and her black plastic framed cats-eye glasses glimmered under the flashing lights of the club. She laughed and said to Taeya "He can be my god anyday."  
  
Sara looked from the petite miss to Taeya, slightly confused and majorly curious. Taeya smiled. "Sara, this is Lala. Lala, Sara." The two shook hands and Lala rolled her eyes.  
  
L: "My real name is Alana, Lala's just what friends call me."  
  
T: "All the more reason for Sara to call you Lala. I know you guys will love each other." A knowing smirk settled upon her tanned face. She looked to the hot guy before returning her gaze to her friends and raising a finely plucked brow. "Now, if you'll excuse me..." Taeya bounded off towards 'her man.'  
  
L: Cocking her head, she mused aloud, "You should meet Jordan too. He's really funny."  
  
S: "Jordan? Oh! That one..." Her eyes followed Taeya's coiled dark hair to her beau.  
  
L: "Yeah! Let's go. Tae won't mind us butting in on her together time with him, she hoardes him to herself all the time anyway."  
  
Uncertain of what to say, Sara didn't even need to murmer a word. Lala grabbed her by the wrist and literally dragged her over to the couple. She smiled her flouncy smile and announced "Jordan? This is Sara, Tae's friend."  
  
She would have expected him to smile and have his teeth that sort of off-white you'd expect from a prom king or something. Ah no, Jordan was much too 'punk' and 'fuck authority' for that. He nodded and shrugged. "Hey."  
  
Looking down, Taeya felt the pockets of her denim mini, "Damn." she cursed, "I left my cell in the Jag and my sister's gonna call tonight with the results of her pregnancy test." Sara shook her head. "Isn't your sister 15?" Taeya's own head moved side to side. "14." she replied with a melancholy attempt at a smile.  
  
Lala patted her shoulder, "I'll go with ya." And so the two set off for the parking lot, leaving Jordan and Sara alone. She felt quite awkward, to be alone with someone she had just met. She made small talk, one of the few activities Jordan was willing to partake in. After a few moments, he began to loosen up and talk a little more.  
  
Sara had never told anyone the story of her mother's accident before, except Derek. And yet she found herself confiding in this complete stranger. There was something soothing and trustworthy about him. He repaid her life story with a short bio of his own.  
  
It had been about twenty minutes and Tae and Lala still hadn't returned. Apparently Jordan had grown bored of standing and talking, he looked to Sara. "Wanna dance?" She shrugged and so they were on the dance floor. It wasn't hard to grind with him, he used many of the same moves Sara herself had learned from Derek.  
  
Soon a crowd of people had formed around them, watching their bodies move in unison. The music ended and the crowd slowly went away. Sara, exhausted, sat in a chair to catch her breath. To her surprise, Jordan took a seat next to her and grinned. "You're a great dancer." he practically had to shout over people's conversations and the latest song that had started. She returned his smile with one of her own. "You're not so bad yourself."  
  
Jordan leaned closer to her. "I'd really like to dance with you again." Sara's grin disappeared, could she be just friends with him? "Uh... yeah. Yeah, sure."  
  
She felt his breath, hot on her own. His face hovered in front of hers for a moment before dipping down into a slow, tender kiss.  
  
It was then that Lala and Tae appeared beside them. 


	2. Strange Happenings

~~*Title*~~ : "Different Steps"  
  
~~*Author*~~ : Atomic Kitten  
  
~~*Email*~~ : ClosetMonster690@aol.com  
  
~~*Website*~~ : http:// www . acidiclipgloss . strawberryshake . net [remove spaces]  
  
~~*Summary*~~ : This Fan-Fic is PG-13/possibly R. This is what happens after Sara is sent off to Julliard. She and Derek want to continue their relationship, but a new friend gets in the way and discoveries are made.  
  
~~*Disclaimer*~~ : This fan fiction was written solely by myself, Atomic Kitten. However I did not create the original characters from the motion picture //Save the Last Dance//. I do not own the trademarks or copyrights to sed characters, plots, merchandise, etc... Only the written words of this fan-fic are my property.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*Chapter Two : "Strange Happenings"*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
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Derek  
  
-------  
  
Derek sat at his oak desk, trying to think of what to write in return to Sara's latest letter. He wanted to tell her he loved her and he couldn't wait to see her, but he couldn't. Writing had never been his thing and now was definitely not a good time to send a mushy love note. Why? Well maybe it had something to do with his three roommates, all jocks, who were standing over his shoulder at the moment.  
  
"Guys." He began exasperatedly, "This is kind of private." One of his friends, Ty, started to make fake kissing noises. "Oh Derek, kiss me!" The other clones laughed, but walked away to leave Derek with his privacy. "Thanks a ton." he murmured under his breath as he returned to contemplating his letter.  
  
A half hour later, he was still thinking. Ty walked in from the kitchen. "Hey, we're going to the Omega party, it'll probably last all night, wanna come?" Derek hesitated, as much as he would have liked to go, not only did he need to write Sara a reply, but he had a ton of studying to do too. "Sorry, I can't." Ty nodded and turned to leave. Within ten minutes all of the guys were gone and Derek was finally by himself.  
  
He figured he would just write the letter later, so he finished all of his studying and still, no luck with words. Sighing, he settled onto the couch and flipped the TV on. After a few minutes, he closed his eyes and drifted into an uneasy slumber.  
  
*knock knock knock* "What the Hell?" Derek slowly sat up, he had been jerked from his sleep by some loud pounding. It took him a few seconds to realize that the pounding was someone at the door. Rubbing his eyes, he stood and stumbled to the front door. One of the guys had probably locked themselves out again. Then he remembered the conversation only, what, three hours ago. No way would they be home this early. Confused, he unlocked the door and opened it. His eyes widened in surprise at the girl standing in front of him.  
  
"Nikki?"  
  
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Sara  
  
-------  
  
Taeya stood beside Sara and Jordan with Lala by her side. Tears streamed down her face in a steady flow and ruined her once flawless makeup. Sara's eyes widened and darted from her friend to Jordan. Had she seen? How could she not have?  
  
Lala patted Tae's back. "It's ok, hun." Taeya shook her head, "She threw her life away. She's only 14 and she's gonna have a baby." A sigh of relief escaped Sara. So this wasn't about the kiss. Although she still felt bad, considering what was happening with Tae's sister, it was a far cry from what she may have been saying, had she known what had just happened.  
  
"Tae it's alright. She'll be fine." Sara tried her best to comfort Taeya. Again, her friend shook her head. "I'm gonna leave Julliard. Go help her with her baby." The mouths of both Sara and Lala flailed open in unison. "What? No! She wouldn't want you to give up your dream. At least one of you has to live that out!" Lala exclaimed. Taeya shot her a dirty look, "Thanks to her no-good 18 year old boyfriend, Faye won't GET to live out her dream. So shut the Hell up and don' t tell me what to do, I'm leaving tomorrow."  
  
Lala looked at Sara with desperation showing on her face, "Stop her!" Sara smiled weakly at Tae, "Taeya, think about this. Make a decision after you've thought about it. There'll never be another chance for you at Julliard if you just drop out." With a look pure ice and a tone to match, Taeya replied "I've decided. I don't want to come back. I'll be fine. I'm going to go pack now, if you'll excuse me." She pushed past Lala and ran out of the club. Lala sighed and sprinted after her. Sara started to follow, when someone grabbed her arm.  
  
Turning around she saw that it was Jordan. "I need to go." she said. He nodded and kissed her again. "I'll call you later." Heading out of the club, Sara had a lot to think about. Like what would she tell Derek? Would she tell Derek at all? What would happen to Tae?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
*The Next Day*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A tear squeezed out of the corner of her eyelid as Sara helped Taeya load her stuff into her car. When everything was taken care of, and Taeya was finally ready to go, she turned to Sara. "I'm gonna miss you so much, Chica!" "I'll miss you too, Taeya." The two hugged as Taeya promised to call Sara as soon as she got to wherever it was she was going and then to write soon after that. Sara watched the silver Jag jett down the street.  
  
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Nearly jumping out of her skin, she turned. Once again, it was Jordan. "What are you stalking me?" she asked dryly. "Guess what?" "I hate guessing games." "Geez grouchy, what's your problem." Sara's mouth opened in disbelief. How could he NOT know what her problem was? He must have realized his mistake, because he aplogized profusely and hugged her tight. "Maybe you'll feel better when you hear my new."  
  
Sara waited patiently, not really dying to hear this oh-so-important news of his. "I'm your new roomie." "WHAT?!?" came Sara's shocked reply. "You... I... how?" "Well, I know the Dean personally... he's my dad's friend and since my dorm was overcrowded and yours is now vacant except for you, I got in"  
  
She wasn't really sure how to feel. She KNEW she'd have to explain this one to Derek, he was going to be staying in her dorm, after all. But how? 


	3. When Sara's away, will Derek play?

Title : "Different Steps"  
  
Author : Atomic Kitten  
  
Email : ClosetMonster690aol.com  
  
Website : http:www . acidiclipgloss . strawberryshake . net [remove spaces]  
  
Summary : This Fan-Fic is PG-13/possibly R. This is what happens after Sara is sent off to Julliard. She and Derek want to continue their relationship, but a new friend gets in the way and discoveries are made.  
  
Disclaimer : This fan fiction was written solely by myself, Atomic Kitten. However I did not create the original characters from the motion picture Save the Last Dance. I do not own the trademarks or copyrights to sed characters, plots, merchandise, etc... Only the written words of this fan- fic are my property.  
  
Chapter Three : "When Derek's away, will Sara play?"  
  
-------  
  
Derek  
  
-------  
  
Nikki grinned coyly, "That's right, Derek. Now that your burning piece of white trash is gone, we can go back to the way things were. They way things were meant to be. Me and you."  
  
Derek stood in the doorway, stammering some indistinguishable words about his opposition to the situation. Ignoring his protests, Nikki pushed past his muscular figure.

"Don't just stand there, baby." She cooed, luring Derek away from the door frame. Closing the door behind her, she locked it and spun around. Removing her tan trenchcoat, she hung it on the hook and turned to face Derek wearing nothing but a set of lilac lingerie.

"Shall we get started?"  
  
-------  
  
Sara  
  
-------  
  
"Uhh... that's great, Jordan." Sara replied, with all the enthusiasm she could muster.

"Isn't it? I'm not officially moving in until tomorrow, I just thought the news might cheer you up... with Taeya gone and all." Jordan flashed her a giant smile and continued, "Well, I'm gonna go... I've got night practice for the play tonight." He took his hand off her shoulder and slinked away.

Sara stood for a moment, unsure what to think. Shaking her head lightly, she turned on her heel and walked towards the front door of her dorm. Entering the cream colored living room, she shuddered. Her dorm seemed so empty without the bouncy Spanish girl to brighten it.

And then it hit her. Soon, her dorm wouldn't be empty at all. Suddenly, she had many new questions to ponder. Like why had the officials of Julliard let Jordan into her dorm? It was true, his was overcrowded, but didn't they usually prohibit co-ed dorms? No... the dorm next to hers was co-ed. And he had said something about knowing the Dean personally. Sara supposed that would get him wherever he wanted in this school.

Glumly, she sat down at her oak desk to write a letter to Derek. Her beloved Derek.


	4. One Wild Night

Title : "Different Steps"  
  
Author : Acidic Kitten  
  
Email : ClosetMonster690aol.com  
  
Website : http: www . acidiclipgloss . strawberryshake . net [remove spaces]  
  
Summary : This Fan-Fic is PG-13/possibly R. This is what happens after Sara is sent off to Julliard. She and Derek want to continue their relationship, but a new friend gets in the way and discoveries are made.  
  
Disclaimer : This fan fiction was written solely by myself, Acidic Kitten. However I did not create the original characters from the motion picture Save the Last Dance. I do not own the trademarks or copyrights to zed characters, plots, merchandise, etc... Only the written words of this fan- fic are my property.  
  
Chapter Four : "One Wild Night"  
  
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Derek  
  
-------  
  
Derek opened his mouth in surprise. "Nikki," he began, "Nikki... we can't. I... Sara..." br But the woman only raised her well-trimmed brow. "What about her? She's off at her little dance school doing God knows what with some other guy." Derek started to say how stupid that was, but then stopped. "What guy?" Nikki shrugged. Of course, she knew nothing about Jordan, it was all a bluff to manipulate Derek. What she was best at. "Yeah, my girl Trysiana goes to Julliard and she says she saw Sara all up on this otha guy. Kissing him and shit." br Derek stared for a moment. There was no way Sara would ever do anything like that to him. They loved each other. Right? br He took a step away from Nikki "I don't care about your girl. No matter what, I would never cheat on Sara." br Nikki sauntered forward, leaving less than six inches between her toned body and Derek's. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to." She whispered seductively, her breath hot on his face. br Derek stuttered, unsure of himself, "I... good. I don't... I don't want anything." br Nikki hesitated a moment. "Look me in the eyes, and tell me you don't remember, Derek. Remember us? The fun we had? Don't you want it back? Even just a little?" She blinked a few times, looking up at him through her naturally thick lashes. br "I... no." But this time the no was more of a maybe. Derek was dazed, confused... br Nikki pushed him back onto the couch. Climbing onto his stomach, she leaned forward and kissed him deeply, her tongue forcing its way into his mouth. After a moment, his hands fluttered to the back of her head. He pulled away for a moment. br "Nikki, I can't." He murmured, but his words were lost as she launched another deep-seeded kiss into his mouth. br Then, as if he were caving inside, he said "I want you." br Nikki smiled, "I knew you would come around." And with that, she removed her bra.  
  
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Sara  
  
-------  
  
A knock interrupted Sara from her letter writing. Before she could get up, the door swung open and Jordan entered, carrying several bags. br "So if you don't mind, I'll be in the room next to yours." He said as he walked past her, bags in tow. br How could she mind? It was the only other room in the dorm. Of course it was where he would be staying. She rolled her eyes and picked up her letter off the desk in the living room. Entering her room, she flopped down on her queen-sized bed and re-read one part of the letter to herself out loud. "I think about you all the time, I can't get you out of my head. More than anything I want you here with me." br "That's nice." A voice said. Startled, Sara sat straight up. Jordan stood, leaning against the doorway, with a big grin on his face. "I feel the same way about you." He replied, his grin softening. "Sara, I love you." Shocked, she opened her mouth to reply, then shut it quickly. "Umm... Jordan, about this letter..." Sara began to explain. br But Jordan cut her off. "Don't worry about it." He grabbed the paper from her hand and threw it towards the wastebasket, where it gingerly floated in. "No one else has to know." Taking a seat beside her on the bed, his hand rested on her shoulder. As he leaned forward for a kiss, his gentle hand moved up to her cheek, holding her to him. br Sara tried to pull away, but weakly gave up after a moment. "I think you should go." She said as soon as the kiss ended. "I have a boyfri..." But once again, he interrupted her words, "I know. That's why we have to enjoy the time we have together now." br He knew about Derek? For how long? Then why was he here? br He kissed her again, this time his hand absentmindedly reached around her back and started to drift up her shirt. "No." Sara started, pushing his hands away. "Derek..." Jordan ignored her pleas, unhooking her bra. His lips locked with hers, holding back any further protests. br Finally he backed away and pulled something out of his pocket. Seeing what the item was, Sara tried to writhe away. No such luck. br A condom. 


End file.
